The ultrasonic inspection is one of the important ways to inspect the wall-loss defects on-line for the oil pipeline. However, many errors or opposite results are obtained in practical application. Aiming at this problem, an effective method based on Burg maximum entropy power spectral estimation is put forward. Based on the maximum entropy principle of the ex-traplated self-correlation, the Burg method can recurrently calculate the reflect coefficient of prediction error filter (PEF) model, thus avoiding the calculation of self-correlation function. Power spectral estimation characterized by short time serial, higher resolution and anti-noise is a key technology to inspect the inner wall of pipeline with ultrasonic. Experimental results show that the method increases the spectral resolution and the detection accuracy, and is suitable for on-line detection of pipeline corrosion and other wall-loss defects.